Past Seasons

2018: Together

Choral favourites in our very own island paradise

Auckland Choral travels to the beautiful and relaxing environment of Waiheke Island, one of the best destinations in the world. A weekend rehearsing in a beautiful environment under Auckland Choral conductors Uwe Grodd and Elizabeth Lau, will culminate in a concert of treasured choral favourites with the excitement of hearing a new work by David Hamilton, Homecoming, setting text by New Zealand poet Vincent O’Sullivan

Elizabeth Lau conductor

Uwe Grodd conductor

Auckland Choral

Sunday 14 October, 2.30pm

Morra Hall, Waiheke Island

Entry by koha

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Who we are: Get to know some of our choir members

Nigel grew up choral singing with the choirs of Kings School and Kings College in Auckland, but then took a break for the next 30 years while focusing on his career as a Consulting Engineer in Ottawa Canada where he moved with his wife in 1981. Later he joined a choir in Ottawa as a way of relieving the stresses of the daily grind, and found that he really enjoyed the challenge, stimulation, and therapy that choral singing provides. He sang with Coro Vivo Ottawa and the Ottawa Festival Chorus for many years, and part time with Auckland Choral since 2006 on his many visits back to New Zealand, before moving back to Auckland with his wife Ming, last year. He sings as a Tenor 2.

He thoroughly enjoys the music and camaraderie of Auckland Choral, and the high standards demanded by the professional team headed up by Uwe Grod. While not singing, he spends as much time as possible sailing on the waters of the Hauraki gulf, and since retiring is a keen traveler and cruiser.

Like so many contraltos, I first got put in the alto section as a school girl because I could read music and manage to sing a line of harmony. I joined Auckland Choral when I was in high school and now I’ve been a member for 40 years! I started singing with my mum as a toddler, sitting on her knee while she played the piano and sang soprano and tenor Messiah arias. I used to come to Auckland Choral’s Saturday dress rehearsals in the Town Hall and follow the score in my early teenage years, and it was a natural step to join Mum in the choir when I was 15. I remember Choral Hall in Airedale Street where we used to meet (before Mayoral Drive was built). It was a dusty old building and freezing in winter, but the ladies in the alto section were very kind to me and welcomed me into the back row. Nothing really changes in that respect; the Auckland Choral altos today are a great bunch of people as well!

I discovered and have fallen in love with choral music while I was in high school in Lisbon. Later I joined Lisboa Cantat, a Lisbon-based symphonic choir for a few years. After coming to New Zealand, in early 2013 I joined Auckland Choral, and I have since been a member of the Bass section.

Alongside with choral music, I love motorbike riding, travelling and tramping the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand. Professionally, I work for the Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland as Director of Faculty Operations.